Uranium dioxide powder preparation, pressing, and sintering for optimum yield

Ceramic powders for pressing and sintering are usually accepted after a sinterability test under standard conditions. However powders not passing the standard rest may still be successfully processed either by rework on the powder or by modifying the pressing and sintering conditions, achieving overall economy in production. Methods that have been developed for uranium dioxide powder are presented. A compaction map has been proposed, with precompaction pressure and final compaction pressure as axes and defect and defect-free regions marked.